


these tired eyes want to remain closed

by actualbluesargent



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, POV Outsider, Post s5x03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-04 22:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14602989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualbluesargent/pseuds/actualbluesargent
Summary: The last scene of 5x03 from an outsider's (that is, Lieutenant Zeke Shaw's) perspective, and a little more.





	these tired eyes want to remain closed

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a post on tumblr that said that the eligius crew probably think bellamy and clarke were each other's s/o's, so I wanted to write this really quickly. this is by no means how i think the scene would actually go, but it's a bit of fun.

Zeke sees McCreary’s face, features twisted in some perverse delight as he pushes the button for the collar. Zeke hears it, before he sees it, the hum of electricity and the strangled noises it causes.

he looks down at her, shaking and pulsating on the ground. The prisoner’s not screaming, which says something about her endurance, but the sounds she's making are nearly worse.

“I don't… know,” she whimpers, and Zeke finds that he believes her. The bewilderment on her face when she heard about the hostiles wasn't because she was shocked they'd been found - she was shocked they were there. Which begs the question - who were they?

He has to look away when McCreary hits the collar for a third time, can no longer handle the sight of her writhing on the ground like an animal.

Which means he sees the Rover as it crawls into view, violent bright lights like nothing they've encountered on the ground so far. The only thing that even so much resembles his life before space. In time with everyone, he trains his gun on the vehicle, but out of the corner of his eye he looks over at the prisoner for any sign of recognition, and she's almost sitting up.

“Madi,” he hears her whisper. “No,”

Madi - probably the little girl she had been so anxious to protect. But how could a little girl drive an SUV that size?

They’ve all fallen silent, guns pointed at the vehicle, waiting. “Come out with your hands high!” Diyoza calls to them. Someone steps out, tall, definitely not a child. They're in shadow, and a quick glance at the prisoner confirms that she has no idea what's going on either.

“I’m unarmed,” a deep voice calls to them, coming closer. “I just wanna talk.”

So it's a man - still surrounded in darkness. Zeke looks to the prisoner, and god, she looks like she's going to cry. Her eyes are wide with disbelief, and she lets out a sound that could be a choked sob - maybe relief for someone intervening in her torture? He doesn't see why she should know this guy, if, like she said, it was just her and the girl.

“Talk? Give me one reason not to kill you where you stand.”

The air is thick with tension, and Diyoza’s hostility reverberates through it. The hostile - whoever he is - steps closer, and Zeke can finally get a look at him. He’s got dark hair and a scruffy beard, and he looks a little older than Zeke. Unlike the prisoner, he doesn’t look like he’s been roughing it in the woods, and while his clothes are dark, they don’t seem like they’re fit for camouflage. He has one hand up in surrender, and something - too small to be a gun - in the other.

“How about I give you 283?” Zeke can see his eyes as he fixes them on Diyoza, and he can also see McCreary look over at Diyoza, probably thinking the same thing as Zeke. This guy knows something he shouldn’t. “That’s how many of your people are gonna die if you and I can’t make a deal.”

The prisoner lets out another small sound, like she’s crying. There’s no way she doesn’t know who he is, but Zeke’s gut still tells him she wasn’t lying earlier. Something isn’t adding up. He holds what he has in his hand up, like it’s evidence. It’s a mug, Zeke can see now, but he can’t tell what it says. Diyoza must recognise it, though, because she doesn’t order them to shoot. Yet. He holds his fist up, in some kind of signal, and the SUV reverses, and the prisoner almost sags in relief. Maybe the little girl _was_ driving. Maybe this guy is her dad.

Zeke watches as the guy’s eyes fall on the prisoner, still on the ground, for the first time since he stepped out of the vehicle. His face softens, and he takes a few steps forward, as if totally unconsciously.

“That’s far enough.” Diyoza warns. The guy returns his gaze to hers, and he’s all stone and steel again. “Two hundred and eighty-three lives, for one.”

Zeke can hear the prisoner breathing, and he can see she hasn’t taken her eyes off this guy since the SUV backed away, like she’s afraid he’s not real, and if she blinks, he’ll vanish.

”She must be pretty important to you.”

The guy looks down at the prisoner again, as if his response is for her ears only. “She is.”

The prisoner makes as if to get up, slowly getting more and more upright. “Bellamy,” she says, so soft it’s like a prayer.

“Clarke,” he says, voice nearly cracking. All his attention is on her, like he doesn’t have nearly a dozen guns aimed at him. Zeke feels very suddenly like he’s intruding on a moment he shouldn’t be.

“Who are you?” Diyoza calls to the guy - Bellamy, Zeke guesses. She doesn’t, Zeke notices, tell them to put their guns down.

“My name’s Bellamy Blake,” he answers, and he must think the same thing as Zeke, because he follows with, “And like I said, I mean no harm.”

“No harm? Tell that to the four of _my_ men that your girlfriend here shot down,” Diyoza says, not pulling any punches. Bellamy grimaces.

“I understand why you’re mad,” he says. “Believe me, I do, but no one else has to die if we can just work this out,”

The prisoner - Clarke - is looking at this Bellamy guy with eyes full of hope, and Zeke has to fight the urge to encourage Diyoza to co-operate with them.

“Fine,” she says eventually. “We’ll talk inside. McCreary, with me.” Slowly, they all lower their guns, and she starts walking back up the steps to the church. When Bellamy doesn’t follow, she looks over her shoulder at him, and Zeke fears for the guy - the ice in her stare is vicious.

“I’m not going anywhere without Cla- without her.” he says, like he is actually in a place to bargain. Diyoza isn’t pleased, Zeke can see that, but she nods, albeit reluctantly.

“Get her up, Lieutenant,” Diyoza says, and before Zeke can even move towards her, Bellamy’s crossed the distance between the two of them. He kneels in front of her on the ground, hands shaking as he gingerly brushes the strands of hair from her face.

“You’re alive,” he says, voice shaking like his hands, and he leans his forehead against hers. Again, Zeke feels like he’s intruding on something he shouldn’t.

“So are you,” she answers, tears choking her words. Whoever this guy is, she loves him, and she hasn’t seen him in a really long time.

Before Diyoza can bark more orders at him, Zeke goes to Clarke’s side to help her up. Bellamy watches him with wary eyes, but steps back far enough to let him get her up. His eyes rove over Clarke’s face, like he’s searching for answers, and really, Zeke wishes Diyoza had asked literally anyone else to do this.

“Is Madi okay?” he hears Clarke whisper as he leads her up the stairs.

“Yeah,” Bellamy’s gruff voice replies. “She’s with the others.”

“What are you guys doing here?” she asks him once they’ve made it to the door of the church. Bellamy makes a sound that could be a huff of laughter. “I could ask you the same thing,”

Which is great, because then all of Zeke’s questions will be answered too. Diyoza isn’t in the main body of the church, so it’s just the three of them as Zeke leads Clarke back to the chair they had her tied up in.

“They tied you up?” Bellamy says, like he’s completely forgotten Zeke is there. He’s angry, but Clarke’s face is nothing but understanding.

“Of course they did,” she says, and then softly, “It’s what we would have done. What we _did_.” Her eyes are still full of tears, but she hasn’t shed any yet, like she’s too strong for it. Zeke knew he liked her.

“Clarke,” Bellamy says again, like he’s steeling himself for something. He crouches down in front of her, free hands holding her still-tied ones. “I’m sorry - I’m sorry for leaving you behind.” His voice is thick, and honestly, Zeke’s going to start crying soon if one of them doesn’t.

Her smile is soft, and there it is, a tear runs down her cheek. “Don’t be. It was the right thing to do.”

When Diyoza gets here, she can ask what the hell is going on, but Zeke doesn’t want to ruin what is clearly a reunion between lovers - no. A reunion between family.

“Besides,” she says. “You’re here now.”

He rubs his thumb along her hand, his eyes on the movement of it. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m here now.”

**Author's Note:**

> like i said, i know the actual plot is way more complex than this, but hey


End file.
